Pop-up Flash Test Results

Coverage and Exposure. Flash coverage was rather narrow at wide angle (18mm) with the 18-135mm kit lens. Coverage was more uniform at telephoto (135mm), but corners were still a little dim, though some of fall-off is due to the lens itself. In our Indoor test, the Pentax K-5 II's flash required +0.7 EV flash exposure compensation to get bright results, which is about average for this scene. Auto white balance was however quite cool. The camera's Slow-Sync flash mode produced bright results with +0.3 EV exposure compensation, though with a strong yellow-orange cast from the room lighting.

Flash Range: Wide Angle

6 ft

7 ft

8 ft

9 ft

10 ft

11 ft

1/50 sec
f3.5
ISO 100

1/50 sec
f3.5
ISO 100

1/50 sec
f3.5
ISO 100

1/50 sec
f3.5
ISO 100

1/50 sec
f3.5
ISO 100

1/50 sec
f3.5
ISO 100

12 ft

13 ft

14 ft

15 ft

16 ft

1/50 sec
f3.5
ISO 100

1/50 sec
f3.5
ISO 100

1/50 sec
f3.5
ISO 100

1/50 sec
f3.5
ISO 100

1/50 sec
f3.5
ISO 100

Flash Range: Telephoto

6 ft

7 ft

8 ft

9 ft

10 ft

11 ft

1/180 sec
f5.6
ISO 100

1/180 sec
f5.6
ISO 100

1/180 sec
f5.6
ISO 100

1/180 sec
f5.6
ISO 100

1/180 sec
f5.6
ISO 100

1/180 sec
f5.6
ISO 100

12 ft

13 ft

14 ft

15 ft

16 ft

1/180 sec
f5.6
ISO 100

1/180 sec
f5.6
ISO 100

1/180 sec
f5.6
ISO 100

1/180 sec
f5.6
ISO 100

1/180 sec
f5.6
ISO 100

ISO 200 Range. At 18mm, f/3.5 and ISO 200, our flash target remained bright out to 12 feet, though images were still usable out to about 14 feet. At 135mm and f/5.6, flash exposure started out slightly dim at 6 feet, but brightness fell rapidly from 9 feet on.

Manufacturer-Specified Flash Range

Wide Angle

Telephoto

12.2 feet
ISO 100

7.6 feet
ISO 100

Manufacturer Specified Flash Test. The Pentax K-5 II's flash is rated with a GN of 13 meters at ISO 100. That translates to about 12.2 feet at f/3.5 and about 7.6 feet at f/5.6, the maximum aperture of the 18-135mm kit lens at wide angle and telephoto respectively. In the shots above, the K-5 II's flash performed to specification at wide angle, but our flash target was underexposed by about 1/3 EV at full telephoto. Our standard test method for flash range uses a fixed setting of ISO 200, to provide a fair basis of comparison between cameras. We've also begun shooting two shots using the manufacturer-specified camera settings, at the range the company claims for the camera, to assess the validity of the specific claims.